


Operation: Jack and Ellie

by shnuffeluv



Category: NCIS
Genre: Crushes, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Girls Kissing, Jealousy, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 12:18:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16367660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: Bishop likes Sloane, which makes the woman from the FBI who has history with Sloane sizable competition. Torres is a good wingman, and McGee wishes all of them could just get over themselves already.





	Operation: Jack and Ellie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [perpetual_danger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetual_danger/gifts).



> For reading through a good chunk of my NCIS fics and giving me this idea, perpetual_danger is the dedication of the day. =P

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Torres asked out of the blue.

Bishop glanced up. McGee had gone to the bathroom, and no one else was in the bullpen. He had to be talking to her, but she didn't have the slightest idea what he was talking about. "What?" she asked.

"The whole time when Izzy was here," Torres said, standing up and walking over to Bishop's desk. "You would not stop acting like she was dragging her nails across a chalkboard. I could practically  _hear_  your teeth grinding. So spill. What's the deal?"

"Nothing's 'the deal,'" Bishop said, feeling her cheeks heat up even as she denied it. "I just felt like she and Sloane didn't get along, and I took Sloane's side because she's my friend."

Torres narrowed his eyes and looked Bishop over. She resisted the urge to bite her lip, but she couldn't help the frustrated frown growing on her features. Torres' eyes widened and his jaw dropped in that perfect "o" shape she found infuriating. "No!" he exclaimed, and Bishop resisted the urge to snap her pen in two. "You  _like_  her?!"

"Keep your voice down!" Bishop hissed, eyes immediately going up to the catwalk to make sure Sloane was not in earshot.

Torres grinned. "I knew you swung both ways, Bishop, but Jack? Really?  _Jack?"_  Torres asked.

"Yeah. Jack," Bishop said, jaw set. "Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem!" Torres exclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just can't believe that...that  _you_  are the jealous type! And over Jack? Who clearly doesn't want anything to do with her former best friend?"

"Sure, she doesn't want to do anything  _now_ _,"_  Bishop said. "But what happens when she gets over Bodie? What happens when they reminisce about 'the good old days' in California? I don't stand a  _chance_  if that happens!"

Torres leaned back. "That's it. I'm your wingman now. I'm gonna help you get together with Jack."

Bishop scoffed. "Nick, just because you got together with Tim, doesn't mean you know how you did it."

"True," Nick allowed. "But I know what women like. And I know how they act when they're interested. And Jack definitely has  _some_  interest in you. We just have to bring that interest to the surface."

"I know I'm going to regret asking this," Bishop said, sighing and turning her head away. "But how?"

Torres grinned, and Bishop's stomach dropped. "Just follow my lead, and you'll have her in no time," he said.

* * *

The first thing he suggested was the makeup. Bishop felt a little ridiculous, wearing red lipstick and darker mascara than she usually did, the bare minimum suddenly being dropped in favor of trying to look attractive. Torres whistled when he saw her walk into work the first morning after they started their plan. Bishop turned bright pink underneath her foundation and took off her coat. "I feel ridiculous," she muttered as Torres came over.

"You look amazing, and this is coming from the queer guy," Torres said.

"Nick, practically everyone in this office is secretly queer. Trust me, you are not setting yourself apart by calling yourself that," Bishop scoffed.

"Still, you look gorgeous," Torres said. "Need a fake reason to talk to Jack upstairs? I could totally make up a story about Izzy calling me non-stop and you needing to get away from the flirting."

"You'd flirt even though you and Tim are a thing?" Bishop asked.

"Polyamory exists, Bishop. It's the twenty-first century," Torres shot back.

Bishop rolled her eyes. "Not that it's that far off, anyway. You already promised her a motorcycle tour this weekend."

Torres grinned. "See? Perfectly valid excuse to leave the bullpen and show off your little 'look' to Jack," he praised.

Bishop grimaced. "You're not going to let up until I go up there and bother her, are you?"

"Nope," Torres said, grinning wide.

"Oh, fine!" Bishop groaned. "But if this does nothing, I'm stealing your cup before we spar next!"

"Noted," Torres muttered, backing away slowly.

Bishop practically sprinted the steps up the catwalk just to get away from Nick trying to embarrass her, and she was suitably flustered when she knocked on Jack's door. She got a faint, "Come in!" and when she opened the door, Sloane was facing away from the door. She turned as Bishop walked in, and froze halfway between a smile and saying something.

While Bishop was somewhat pleased she at least got a reaction out of Sloane, she also desperately wanted to talk to her friend, so she prompted, "Jack? You okay?"

Sloane cleared her throat and smiled, shaking her head. "Yeah, fine. You just...look different today."

"Trying out new makeup," Bishop said with a smile.

Sloane nodded and Bishop felt her heart skip a beat at the stunned reaction. "Nick's phone has been blowing up this morning, and he won't stop flirting with...oh, what was her name...Izzy? The woman from the other day," Bishop said. "Is it okay if I hide up here, just until Tim comes in? I doubt even  _he'd_  let the flirting go this long."

"Oh! Sure," Sloane said, finally jumping fully into action again. She gestured Bishop in and Bishop complied, closing the door behind her. "Yeah, come in."

Bishop couldn't help the grin creeping up her face as she thought about teasing Sloane a little bit. "So, what do you think of my new makeup?" she asked. "Nick suggested a couple brands, who knows why he knew them, and I feel a little too...made up for work, but...?"

"It's..." Sloane trailed off, looking Bishop over. Bishop bit her lip lightly, not enough to get any of the lipstick off, and Sloane cleared her throat. "It suits you well. What's this about Izzy calling Torres non-stop?"

"He keeps on flirting with her when she calls," Bishop said, making a face. "And she seems to be calling more and more the closer they get to that motorcycle tour Nick promised her."

"I thought Nick was going out with Tim?" Sloane asked.

"To use Nick's words, 'Polyamory exists, it's the twenty-first century,'" Bishop said with an exasperated laugh.

"That does sound like him," Sloane muttered. "Feel free to camp out up here for a little while, I don't know how much time I have to myself this morning, but you're welcome to stay here until I get called away."

"Thanks, Jack," Bishop said with a big smile, collapsing into one of Sloane's chairs.

"No problem," Sloane said. "I might need to have a word with Izzy about how much she's calling Nick, though, if it's bugging you."

"Don't go all out on my account, Jack," Bishop said. "It's not  _that_  big a deal, I just needed a break."

Sloane pressed her lips into a line but nodded. "You're right, you're right. I shouldn't get worked up over it."

Bishop gave her a soft smile and they talked for an hour before McGee texted her, saying they had a case. She left the office with a grin and Torres gave her a thumbs-up as she grabbed her stuff and followed him and McGee to the elevator.

* * *

The second thing he suggested was the clothes. It wasn't a huge makeover or anything, but he suggested wearing her more flattering sweaters and the slightly tighter blouses if she knew Jack was going to be around that day.

She was turning quite a few heads with her new look, and it did make her feel slightly uncomfortable. But whenever she started to doubt herself, she just went over to Torres' desk and he reassured her that it was working, see, Sloane nearly walked into a wall the first time she saw Bishop like this, and she hadn't gotten much better. Bishop laughed at the exaggeration, and McGee never failed to roll his eyes, saying that if Bishop liked Sloane that much, just ask her out already! Torres would respond that's not how things worked, and McGee would retort that was how they started dating, and Bishop would leave them to their bickering, go back to her desk, and text Sloane with a smile on her face.

By the time Gibbs got back, everyone had started a pool on who Bishop was dressing up for, and everyone was keeping an eye on her interactions with her teammates, with Abby and Jimmy, even with people in other departments. However, in all the updates Torres gave on the pool, no one besides him ever bet on Sloane.

"You're going to have quite a bit of cash on your hands whenever I finally get the courage to ask her out," Bishop whispered to him one day.

Torres looked around and grinned, whispering back, "Keep quiet, I'm sure the people hoping it's me you're dressing up for will have conniptions."

Bishop laughed and someone walking by choked on their coffee. "That's mean!" Bishop scolded.

Torres just shrugged and Bishop laughed. "Stop it!" she giggled.

"What?" Torres asked, bringing his hands up over his chest. "Izzy loves it when I do stuff like this!"

Bishop glanced around Torres and, yep, Sloane was on the stairs, watching them. "I'm not Izzy," Bishop said pointedly. "Nor do I want to be."

"I'm admittedly a little jealous," McGee grumbled from his desk. "And I know what's going on here!"

Bishop sent him a warning glance and Torres sent him a glare. "C'mon, babe, a little play-flirting will kill no one," he said adamantly.

"You're lucky I haven't had 'The Talk' with you about Izzy yet,  _babe_ ," McGee shot back. "She's showing genuine interest in you, and we still need to talk about the boundaries in our relationship."

Torres groaned, and Bishop laughed. "I'll leave you two to that," she said, sending a glance at Sloane. "I'll be talking to a certain friend of mine."

* * *

As it turned out, Nick never even got to suggest a third thing, because the second Sloane and Bishop were alone in Sloane's office, Bishop blurted out, "Do you want to get coffee sometime?"

Sloane seemed to sag in relief and she laughed. "Wow, for a second there I was worried that you were going to never ask me out!"

Bishop stood there in shocked silence for a full thirty seconds before she sputtered out, "What...you knew?! How?!"

"Well, there's only a small pool of people you might be interested in at work..." Sloane trailed off. "...And McGee was getting tired of having to listen to Nick talk bad about Izzy all the time so he came to me and explained your and Nick's nefarious plan."

"I'm going to kill him," Bishop said, turning towards the door.

"Don't!" Sloane urged. "He only wanted to make sure neither of us were left mutually pining for months!"

Bishop turned back to Sloane. "'Mutually'?"

"Mutually," Sloane confirmed. "I'd love to get coffee with you. Or go on an official dinner date, somewhere, sometime."

Bishop grinned. "Really?"

"Mm-hm," Sloane hummed.

"I thought that...if Izzy was here you and her might...with your history..." Bishop fumbled.

"No," Sloane said, shaking her head. "Anything we might have had is in the past now, I'm not looking to bring it back. And besides...Izzy can't hold a candle to your smile."

Bishop grinned and laughed. "Stop!" she said.

"Never," Sloane said. "For as long as you want to date me, I will flatter and flirt and make sure you're left blushing, because you're gorgeous when you blush."

"No!" Bishop exclaimed. "I can't take compliments! Stop!"

Sloane's smile softened. "I'll only stop for now, if you agree to compromise with me on a place for our date."

"Fine!" Bishop exclaimed. "Now, stop embarrassing me!"

"One more thing," Sloane said, closing the distance between her and Bishop and cupping Bishop's face with one hand.

Bishop moved forward, following Sloane's lead, closing her eyes as they kissed and sparks flew. The sparks felt more like fireworks than mere embers, though. And when Bishop finally pulled away, somewhat breathless because  _holy crap, this is real, this is happening,_  Sloane was grinning. "What do you say to a dinner date somewhere?" she asked.

It took Bishop's brain a second to register the words. "Yeah, that works. Anywhere in particular?"

"Not really, you can choose," Sloane said. "I'll give you until the end of the day to choose, sound good?"

Bishop nodded, and left the room in a daze, nearly running right into McGee and Torres. "How'd it go?" Torres asked.

"What...?" Bishop asked, still dazed from the whole situation.

Torres whooped in victory. "Come on, man, you owe me twenty bucks!" he said, holding his hand out to McGee.

McGee cursed under his breath and pulled out his wallet, passing over two tens. "I hate you," he said, turning and heading back to the bullpen.

When he was gone and Bishop was finally back on planet Earth, Torres grinned, and Bishop almost matched him. "Tell. Me. Everything!" he ordered.

Bishop laughed and dutifully started to explain.


End file.
